Payless ShoeSource
In 2017, this shoe retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, let go of their employees and closed more than 600 stores. Fortunately, Payless managed to make a successful comeback after reorganizing in August of 2017. However, that did not mean they were out of the woods. Even though Payless had to close down hundreds of its stores, it still has plenty (3,500 to be exact!) to run while it is trying to handle the problems it is facing. Paul Jones, Payless’ CEO, said in an interview in 2017, “We have accomplished our goals of strengthening our balance sheet and restructuring our debt load, positioning Payless to create substantial value for our stakeholders.” Hopefully, they can make the comeback they’re hoping for.
Payless ShoeSource
Sears
Sears has been experiencing some problems for about a decade and is only seeing a continuing decline of their sales. It appears that this company has tried everything to stay afloat – cut costs, sell assets, close stores, and even lay off employees – but according to RetailDive, all of those steps did not help the huge department store much. As a result, in October 2018, it had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, stopping the operation of 142 stores in the process. The CEO, Eddie Lampert, attempted to avoid bankruptcy by getting hundreds of millions of loans from his hedge fund (of course, with corresponding interest). However, things didn’t look so good for the retailer, and even a hedge fund couldn’t help it stay afloat.
Sears
